15 unidentified bodies found in Libya mass graves

TRIPOLI: Libyan authorities have announced the recovery of 15 unidentified bodies from two mass graves in the city of Sirte, some 450 km east of the capital Tripoli.

"Field team of the Remains Search Department recovered 15 bodies of unknown identities in the yard of Ibn Sina university hospital in Sirte," Xinhua news agency quoted the General Authority for Research and Identification of Missing Persons as saying in a statement.

One mass grave contained seven bodies while the other contained eight, it said, adding their DNA samples would be compared with those of the relatives of the registered missing.

In April, the Authority announced recovering 11 unidentified bodies from a mass grave in Sirte, which used to be an Islamic State stronghold before the terror group were expelled from the city in 2016 by the former UN-backed Government of National Accord.

As of August, teams from the Authority have extracted 286 bodies from about 100 secret grave sites.

The teams have successfully identified 154 victims through DNA matching, and efforts are currently underway to identify more of the victims.

Libya has been in turmoil since the overthrow of dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

Two governments are currently vying for power in the North African country.